


Volpina

by SailorChibi



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste Needs a Hug, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Identity Reveal, Adrien watches miraculous ladybug, Characters watch their own show, Chloe takes great joy in rubbing things in Lila's face, Crack, Crack Treated Seriously, Episode: s01 Volpina, Fluff and Crack, Gen, Identity Reveal, Lila Rossi salt, Marinette Dupain-Cheng Finds Out First, Marinette Dupain-Cheng Needs a Hug, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug Identity Reveal, Marinette watches miraculous ladybug, Public Identity Reveal, Secret Identity Reveal, but if you like lila what are you doing reading my stories, for once the mayhem is not caused by hawkmoth, i just didn't think it was appropriate to tag them all, identity reveal to more than one person, lila is not depicted in a great way here, other classmates are involved too, please don't take this too seriously, when some of them don't speak very much
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-09
Updated: 2020-02-09
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:07:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22638148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SailorChibi/pseuds/SailorChibi
Summary: What started out as an okay day rapidly goes downhill when Marinette wakes up in a locked room with all of her classmates, and is forced to watch the Miraculous Ladybug episode "Volpina".
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 52
Kudos: 1151





	Volpina

**Author's Note:**

> I'm trash at heart and absolutely love stories where characters read their own books/watch their own shows/movies, but I didn't have it in me to go episode by episode. So I thought, why not skip to a more interesting episode? I've been half-heartedly pecking away at this for months - it's much harder than you think to make these kinds of stories semi-interesting, but I hope I at least somewhat succeeded. Someday I might continue with Chameleon and Ladybug, we'll see.
> 
> The parts in bold do not belong to me and are taken directly from the show itself. A heartfelt thank you to the ML Wiki, which provides transcripts of episodes and prevented me from having to painstakingly go through the episode line by line.

Marinette opened her eyes. Normally there wouldn’t have been anything unusual about that, but the last thing she remembered was sitting at her desk and struggling to get through a physics test. Now, with seemingly no transition, she found herself laying flat on her back and staring up into darkness. Wherever she was, the ceiling was so high that she couldn’t see it. And that couldn’t be good.

Hearing murmurs, she sat up and looked around. Her class was scattered around her, though Madame Bustier was missing. Rose was the only one still unconscious, her head in Juleka’s lap – but even as Marinette watched, Rose’s eyelashes fluttered, and she started to stir. Juleka immediately bent over her and started whispering to her, tenderly running her hands through Rose’s hair.

“Where are we?” Marinette asked. Her skin prickled as everyone turned to look at her. Her relationship with her classmates hadn’t exactly been amazing ever since Lila showed up, but no one could get mad at her for asking such an obvious question, right?

“We don’t know,” Alix answered. “No one can get out.”

“We tried,” Kim added grumpily, rubbing his arm. 

“This has to be the work of an akuma,” said Max.

“Yesss,” Alya hissed under her breath, holding her phone up like a prize.

“Alya, seriously?” Nino said, lifting the brim of his cap so he could rub his forehead. Beside him, Adrien looked like he was going to be sick – but he smiled at Marinette when he noticed her looking, so that was okay. Marinette blushed and turned away.

Nathaniel, Chloé, Sabrina, Lila, Mylène, Ivan. She counted her classmates off silently and realized that they were all here. She supposed that was a good thing. Then a thought struck her, and she hastily felt for her earrings to make sure they were still there before opening her purse. Tikki smiled up at her and Marinette breathed through her panic, weakly smiling back. She didn’t know what she would’ve done if Tikki had been gone.

“What’s that?” Mylène cried suddenly. 

Marinette looked up just in time to see that there was a white square forming on the far wall. All of them scrambled back as the square slowly expanded in size until it was easily three times the size of the television in her living room. The screen, for that’s what it had to be, flickered with static for a moment before fading to black. Then, just as suddenly, words began to form.

“Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir?” Alya read, puzzled. “Volpina? What is this?”

“Isn’t that that tv show they made?” Alix said.

Chloé scoffed loudly. “As if. You don’t know anything. The tv show is called Miraculous, and _that_ Ladybug is not nearly as good as the real one. It’s awful.” She folded her arms across her chest.

“You seem to know a lot about it for someone who thinks it’s awful,” Kim muttered, smirking at Alix.

“It’s doing something,” Sabrina said nervously, edging closer to Chloé. She must’ve been really frightened, because not even Chloé’s annoyed glare was enough to make Sabrina move away. 

In fact, everyone was huddling together. Mylène and Ivan had clustered together. So had Nathaniel, Alix, Kim and Max. Rose was still in Juleka’s lap. Nino and Adrien were sitting side by side. Alya was right next to Lila. Marinette frowned and wrapped her arms around herself. She tried to convince herself that it was for the best that she was standing alone, because it meant that she might have an opportunity to slip away and transform. Max was right that this had to be the work of an akuma, which meant Ladybug was the only one who could fix it.

But that was a poor consolation for how isolated she felt, even sitting there amongst people who were supposed to be her friends.

They all jumped when the words faded from the screen and it burst into color, showing a mansion and then a portrait of – Marinette blinked. Was that Adrien? And Gabriel Agreste? And Adrien’s mother? She turned fully towards the screen, curious despite herself to see what was going to happen.

**[Adrien is running down the interior steps. Suddenly, he stops and turns towards a room. Gabriel walks by.]**

**Gabriel: Yes, I'm busy. I was right in the middle of something very important. What do you want? What?! This is unacceptable! The sample garment doesn't match at all! All you had to do was follow a pattern. Imbeciles! What am I supposed to do? The show is in three days! No, don't use him, he's completely useless. Call my assistant, Nathalie. She'll give you some other names.**

**[As he talks, Gabriel picks up a book and walks over to a safe. He puts the book in the safe and shuts the door, then closes the portrait over the safe. Then he leaves the room, walking past Adrien.]**

“I remember this,” Adrien said slowly. Marinette glanced at him. He was staring at the screen with furrowed eyebrows.

“Wait, you mean this actually happened?” Nino said in surprise.

“Shhh!” Alya hissed at them.

**Adrien: He hides stuff behind the painting of Mom?**

**Plagg: Oh, I love dirty secrets!**

Marinette felt faint. So faint that she had to sit down. Hard.

That couldn’t be what she thought it was. 

It just couldn’t.

**[Adrien and Plagg walk into the room and approach the safe. Adrien pulls the portrait forward and starts to touch the keypad, only to pull back.]**

**Adrien: I can't do it. My dad wouldn't like me going through his stuff. Besides, I don't even know the code, and my fencing class is about to start.**

**Plagg: You're such a party pooper.**

**[Plagg phases through the safe.]**

**Adrien: Plagg, no!**

“Adrien,” Alya said shakily. “Is that – is that what I think it is?”

Adrien stared straight ahead, his face set like a stone. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You said you remembered this,” Chloé pointed out. She stared at Adrien like she could see through him, but Adrien refused to meet her gaze or anyone else’s.

“Clearly, I was mistaken. This never happened.” Adrien crossed his arms.

**Plagg: My, my, what have we got here? A book on Tibet, an old flyer from a hotel, a load of junk, come on, where's the good stuff?**

**[Plagg knocks the book Gabriel was looking at into Adrien's arms]**

**Plagg: I've seen this book somewhere before. But who cares? I'm famished! I need Camembert!**

**Adrien: Why is my dad keeping this locked in a safe? Hawkmoth? What's this monster doing in a book about superheroes?**

**Plagg: Cheese! Didn't you hear me?**

**[Adrien panics when he hears someone coming and hides the book in his school bag. He closes the picture just as Nathalie and Gorilla enter the room.]**

**Nathalie: Adrien? You're going to be late.**

**Adrien: I was...looking for my homework. Silly me.**

Adrien was getting a lot of intense looks, especially from Alya, Nino and Chloé – which made sense, considering that all three of them would’ve recognized a kwami. To his credit, he ignored them all and continued to stare at the screen with a perfect poker face. Marinette was probably the only person not staring at him; she was too busy looking at the floor and trying not to hyperventilate.

“This is stupid,” Lila said. It was the first time she’d spoken. “Obviously, this is a waste of time. Where the hell is Ladybug? Why hasn’t she rescued us yet?”

“Maybe she’s busy,” Marinette said tightly.

“Too busy to save her best friend? No way.” Lila shook her head. 

It was on the tip of Marinette’s tongue to scream that Lila was not Ladybug’s best friend, but she bit the urge back and instead exhaled forcefully through her nose in frustration. This was all too much!

**[The screen changes. Marinette and Alya are walking up the entrance steps.]**

**Rose: Can you believe Lila knows Prince Ali? She even flew in his private jet with him!**

**Chloé: Why did Jagged Stone write a song about Lila when he could’ve written it about me?**

“He has good taste,” Lila muttered.

Chloé glowered at her.

**Nino: Lila knows all the Hollywood directors. She promised she’d mention me to Steven Basielberg himself!**

**Marinette: Lila?**

**Alya: Yeah, she just started at our school! She even gave me an exclusive interview for the Ladyblog, cause Ladybug saved her life once! Watch!**

“Thanks again for that interview, Lila. It was amazing,” Alya said. “It got me an unbelievable amount of hits to the Ladyblog. I hit a new record that day.”

Lila smiled sweetly. “No problem, Alya. Anytime. I can tell you all kinds of stories about Ladybug.” She smirked at Marinette over Alya’s shoulder.

Marinette clenched her fist, but otherwise forced herself not to react. Unfortunately, her on-screen self hadn’t gotten the message.

**Marinette: Who is this girl and what is she doing next to the love of my life?!**

**Alya: Lila's got the most incredible life and now she's going here. She's totally awesome!**

**Marinette: What?! Don't say that! This is super bad, what if Adrien totally falls for her?! I've never flown in a private jet; nobody's ever written a song about me; and I don't know a single person in Hollywood! Adrien will forget I even exist!**

**[On the second floor, Lila guides Adrien along by the hand.]**

“The love of your life?” Chloé said scornfully. “Please. Adrien has way better taste than you.”

“For once, I agree with you, Bourgeois.” Lila flipped her hair back.

Adrien said nothing. He was too busy staring at Marinette in wide-eyed surprise.

For her part, Marinette turned bright pink and couldn’t bring herself to say anything. This was not how she’d wanted Adrien to find out about her feelings. Was it too much to hope that he would forget this had ever happened once she used her miraculous cure? If not, she was going to have to look into changing her name and moving immediately to the countryside.

**Marinette: Where are they going? Alya, we've got to stop them!**

**Alya: You need to chill out, Marinette. My Ladyblog has the highest number of hits ever after that Lila interview!**

**Marinette: What's going on? I mean has this Lila girl hypnotized everyone or something?**

**[Marinette’s purse pops open.]**

**Tikki: You wouldn't be a little jealous, Marinette?**

**Marinette: Huh! Me, jealous? No way!**

**[Marinette runs after Adrien and Lila].**

“Wow. That was kind of rude,” Alix said.

“Excuse me?” Alya said.

“Your friend was trying to talk to you and you just walked away,” Alix replied.

“I have to agree,” Max said.

Alya just shook her head. “More to the point. Marinette, what was that?!” She pointed at the screen.

“What was what?” Marinette said, aiming for innocence. Her heart was racing a mile a minute. Alya, Nino and Chloé were all staring at her with speculative looks. Adrien was staring at the screen with huge eyes. She could feel herself sweating.

“Marinette, are you…?” Nino began.

“Look!” Marinette flung her hand at the screen.

**[In the library, Marinette sees Adrien sitting at a table alone. Marinette hides behind a nearby bookshelf.]**

**Marinette: Where is she?**

**[Adrien takes the book from his dad's safe out of his bag. Tikki gasps and leaves Marinette's purse.]**

**Tikki: Marinette, Adrien's book! I need to get a closer look at it.**

**Marinette: Why are you so concerned about his book? Hide, Tikki!**

**[Instead Tikki flies over to a bookcase right next to Adrien.]**

“Seriously, what is that?” Nathaniel asked. “It looks like something out of my comic.”

“I think it’s cute!” Rose said, clasping her hands together. “Is it a toy, Marinette?”

“Umm,” Marinette said, desperately wracking her brain. At this rate, her identity was going to be public knowledge. She could only imagine what Lila would do with that knowledge, considering how much Lila hated both Marinette _and_ Ladybug. But short of transforming and throwing her yoyo at the screen to break it, her brain was drawing a blank – and doing that, satisfying at it would be, would just defeat the whole purpose.

“Is it a robot?” Max asked.

“Yes! That’s it! A robot,” Marinette said, nodding furiously and turning back to the screen. She crossed her fingers and prayed that somehow, miraculously, this show would _stop_.

**Lila: Now we can get going on our history homework. It's so much more fun doing it together, don't you think? What's that?**

**Adrien: Uh nothing! Just stories about superheroes.**

**[Lila puts her hand over Adrien’s.]**

**Lila: I love superheroes!**

**Marinette: It's already too late!**

“You’re right, it is.” Lila smirked again.

Marinette scowled at her.

**Lila: Ladybug!**

**Adrien: She's amazing.**

**Lila: A girl doesn't need to wear a costume to be amazing, you know.**

**[Lila scoots her seat closer to Adrien.]**

**Adrien: Uh, I don't know—I mean, I—**

**Lila: So you've got a little soft spot for the bug, huh?**

**Adrien: Me? Oh, no! Not at all!**

Nino snorted. “Dude. What a lie.”

“It’s not a lie,” Adrien said weakly.

“You forget. I’ve seen your room and your Ladybug shrine,” said Nino.

“Ladybug shrine?” Marinette repeated.

Adrien reddened. “It’s not a shrine, exactly.”

“Oh, it’s totally a shrine,” Kim said, snickering.

**[Marinette, hidden in the book cart, moves closer to them, but is unnoticed.]**

**Lila: You know I actually happen to be very close friends with Ladybug.**

**Adrien: Really?!**

**Lila: We can chat about it if you want. Not here though. Why don't we meet at the park after school and I'll tell you everything?**

**[Marinette accidentally slams the cart into the wall, causing Adrien and Lila to stand up in surprise.]**

“That was you!” Lila exclaimed, sounding furious. “You were spying on us? How low can you get?”

It was Marinette’s turn to blush. “I – I was just – curious,” she fumbled, embarrassed. She really didn’t have an excuse for letting her jealousy get away from her. It wasn’t the first time it had happened, and it probably wouldn’t be the last. 

**[Marinette hides under their table. Adrien’s phone beeps.]**

**Adrien: I gotta go! I've got a lesson in 58 seconds.**

**[Lila causes Adrien to drop his bag on the floor]**

**Lila: So, the park?**

**[Lila pushes the superhero book on the floor away from Adrien's bag with her foot.]**

**Adrien: Uh sure!**

**[Adrien leaves as Lila picks up the book.]**

**Lila: A vixen superheroine? Hmm, interesting...**

“Wait, Lila, _you_ stole my book?!” Adrien’s head snapped around to stare at her. “I almost got in a ton of trouble for that!”

Lila looked caught, but only for a moment. “I just wanted to see what it was. I’m sorry, Adrien. I never thought you’d get in trouble,” she said tearfully, blinking rapidly.

“That wasn’t cool,” Juleka said softly.

“I didn’t mean to.” Lila’s lower lip quivered. “You forgive me, don’t you?”

“Err…” Adrien froze when everyone looked at him. “I… I guess so.”

“Oh, thank you Adrien!” Lila jumped up and rushed over to him, hugging him tightly. Marinette didn’t think it was her imagination that Chloé let out a low growl. She couldn’t even blame Chloé for it. Adrien’s uncomfortable expression as he tried to extricate himself from Lila made Marinette feel like growling herself.

**Tikki: Marinette!**

**Marinette: I know. I gotta talk to Adrien before he meets up with Lila in the park. He needs to know that she's a total thief.**

**Tikki: No! You can't say anything to Adrien yet. I need a chance to check out the book first. If it's the one I think it is, we have to get our hands on it!**

**Marinette: I don't get it? Exactly why would we need it?**

**Tikki: I'll explain to you once I know for sure. Please, we mustn't let Lila out of our sight!**

“What’s the big deal about this book?” Alya said, throwing her hands up in the air in exasperation. 

“Why did it have a picture of Hawkmoth and someone who looks like Rena Rouge?” Nino asked immediately after.

Adrien shrugged. “I don’t know. I never really got the chance to look at it that closely. And I definitely didn’t dare ask my father about it. He would’ve been way too mad I even knew about it.”

“Did it have pictures of the other miraculous holders?” Ivan asked curiously.

“Uh… I’m not sure,” Adrien said. “Maybe?”

**[ Marinette is watching a clip of Lila from the Ladyblog.]**

**Lila: Ladybug and me, we're like this!**

**[On screen, Lila crosses her fingers.]**

**Marinette: Liar!**

**Tikki: There! She's coming out!**

**[Lila exits a jewelry store. Marinette follows her to a park and hides behind a tree. Lila sits on a bench.]**

“You know, stalking is illegal,” Lila said pointedly, all fake tears gone.

“I wasn’t stalking. I was following,” Marinette said defensively. This show was making her look like a terrible person, but what could she really say to defend herself when this was exactly how it had happened? It wasn’t like she could tell anyone what a horrible person Lila was. They wouldn’t believe her.

“Not sure there’s a difference,” Alix said, shaking her head.

**Tikki: We’re too far away.**

**[Marinette uses the zoom on her phone to get a closer look at Lila. Lila puts on a necklace with a fox tail charm and quickly hides the book as Adrien appears.]**

**Lila: Oh hi!**

**Marinette: Oh no! He's already here!**

**Adrien: Hey!**

**[Lila panics and throws the book in the trash behind her.]**

“Lila!” Adrien exclaimed.

“I panicked!” Lila cried. “I was going to pick it up later and give it back to you, I swear.” She wrung her hands together.

“Why didn’t you just give it back then?” Mylène asked sensibly.

“I was afraid,” Lila said, which was such bullshit Marinette couldn’t help rolling her eyes.

**Marinette: She dumped the book in the trash bin! What a brat!**

**Tikki: I'll get it–**

**Marinette: No Tikki!**

**Tikki: I have to get that book! You take care of Adrien.**

**Marinette: Tikki!**

**[Tikki struggles to get the book out of the trash.]**

**Adrien: So you do know Ladybug, for real?**

**Tikki: This is the book Marinette!**

“Now I want to get a look at that book, just to see what’s so great about it,” Alya said.

“I think my father has it. Though I have no idea how he got it back,” Adrien said.

“Maybe we can look at it again. I could hack into the safe,” Max said, looking a little too interested.

“No! No more book stealing!” Adrien exclaimed.

**Lila: Not only did Ladybug save my life, we've become very close friends because we have something very special in common- it's what I wanted to tell you about. I'm the descendant of a vixen superheroine myself, Volpina.**

**Adrien: Volpina?**

**Marinette: Volpina?**

**Adrien: Wait a minute! I think I read about her in my book.**

**Lila: Of course she's in your book. She's one of the most important superheroes. More powerful and more celebrated than Ladybug. Between you and me Ladybug doesn't even make the top ten. My grandma gave me this necklace.**

**Tikki: Wow she's good. Really good.**

**Marinette: You've got your book. I can't lose Adrien. Time to transform! Tikki, spots on! Yeah!**

**[Marinette transforms into Ladybug.]**

Dead silence.

No one said a word.

Marinette couldn’t breathe. She’d known this moment was coming; it was impossible to ignore where this was leading up to. But she hadn’t realized how hard it would hit her until it actually happened. And all she could think about was that the transformation scene was totally corny and unrealistic. She didn’t wave her arms around like that. It was just a flash of red light and boom, she was Ladybug.

But in the grand scheme of things, a corny transformation was the _least_ of Marinette’s concerns right now.

Finally, Alya broke the silence. “Marinette? You’re…” She looked like she wanted to faint.

“You’re Ladybug?” It was Chloé who said it, her eyes wide with disbelief.

Everyone looked shocked. That is, everyone except for Lila. Lila’s expression was filled with realization, which was swiftly turning into a pure rage that sent chills down Marinette’s spine. 

“I… I…” Marinette couldn’t even speak. All she could do was stutter.

But that seemed to be all that anyone needed. Suddenly the whole group was yelling at the same time. Questions and accusations and demands for information blurred together into a dizzying and scary blur. Marinette backed up, her chest and throat tightening as her classmates crowded in on her. It was more attention than she’d had in weeks and it was wat too much. She could feel herself shaking; it only got worse when her back hit the wall and she realized she couldn’t go any further, but still they came closer.

“Alright, that’s it. _BACK OFF_!” Adrien thundered. 

It was the first time that Marinette had ever heard him yell. Everyone went quiet, staring at him in surprise. Adrien glared back and pushed his way past Nathaniel and Kim. Marinette was shocked when he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a protective hug, but melted into the embrace. She buried her face in his chest and clenched her hands in the fabric of his shirt, struggling to breathe.

“Shame on all of you. Can’t you see how upset Marinette is?” Adrien demanded, one hand cupping the back of her head protectively. “All of you go sit down right now. I mean it.”

“But Adrien –” Alya said.

“Alya, I said _now_ ,” Adrien growled. 

There was a shuffling sound that Marinette assumed meant the rest of their classmates were obeying. She didn’t lift her head to look. She didn’t want them to see that she was crying.

“Shh, Marinette. It’s okay,” Adrien said, his voice suddenly gone soft and soothing. “You’re okay. Just take slow, deep breaths with me. Focus on me. Just on me.” He rubbed a hand up and down her arm.

Marinette squeezed her eyes shut and let her senses fill with Adrien. The scent of his cologne, the feel of his cotton shirt and muscled chest beneath her cheek, the pressure of his arms, the sound of his voice. All of it combined to make her feel safer than she ever could have guessed, and, although her brain wasn’t ready to face such a huge bit of information, she thought she might know why.

“Marinette?” Adrien murmured after a bit.

“They know,” Marinette said, tearing up all over again. “I worked so hard to keep it a secret and now they _know_.”

Adrien sighed. “I know. This is all Hawkmoth’s doing,” he said grimly. “Maybe… maybe they’ll forget when you use your cure.”

“Maybe,” Marinette said, but she doubted it. None of them had fallen under the influence of an akuma. People who were witnesses to the things that happened during akuma attacks didn’t tend to forget. 

And frankly, Ladybug or not, she just wasn’t that lucky.

He held her for several more minutes, until she felt a little less like anxiety was going to swallow her head. When at last she lifted her head, Adrien was looking down at her with such a warm, concerned expression that she had to blink back more tears. That look was all she’d ever wanted, but it was coming with such a hefty price. She’d never wanted it to be like this.

“It’ll be okay,” Adrien whispered, trying to smile. “Let’s just watch the rest of this and then maybe we can figure out how to flush the akuma out, okay?”

“Okay,” Marinette said, swallowing hard. She was expecting him to let her go, but he kept both his arms firmly wrapped around her as they turned to face the screen. They had missed a chunk of it while she was freaking out. 

**[The akuma lands on Lila's fox tail necklace.]**

**Hawk Moth: Volpina, I am Hawk Moth. I'm giving you the power of illusion, from now on, your lies will come to life. Gain Ladybug and Cat Noir's trust and convince them you're a real superhero, then betray them and bring me their Miraculous.**

**Lila: It would be my pleasure, Hawk Moth. [transforms into Volpina and uses her new power to change the poster of Ladybug into one of Volpina and Adrien]**

**[A meteor appears in the sky, hurtling down toward the city. Adrien is just getting home, and upon seeing the meteor, runs to his room.]**

**Adrien: Plagg, claws out!**

**[Adrien transforms into Cat Noir.]**

Adrien was holding her so tightly that it actually hurt, but Marinette couldn’t bring herself to care as her suspicion was confirmed right before her eyes. Dazedly, she thought to herself that Chat’s transformation was even more corny and extra than hers was – and it was probably a lot closer to the truth.

“Oh my god, my Adrikins is that cat?!” Chloé exclaimed in pure horror.

“Adrien?” Lila was staring at them, mouth hanging open so far that her bottom teeth were visible.

“Holy shit,” Nino breathed, a sentiment that was echoed by many of their classmates.

Alya seemed to have stopped breathing. Looking a little worried, Ivan reached over and nudged her. Alya gasped and gulped in air, but couldn’t seem to speak.

“You’re Chat Noir?” Alix said, standing up.

“Yes,” Adrien said. Only someone who knew him well would’ve heard the minute quiver in his voice; had he been transformed, his ears would’ve been drooping and his tail would’ve been vibrating with tension.

“Oh my god!” Chloé cried out again, dramatically falling back against her seat. Sabrina leaped up and started frantically fanning her.

No wonder Adrien hadn’t freaked out when he found out she was Ladybug and had instead come to help her. Marinette could feel herself calming down as the focus turned to her partner, and her protective instincts kicked into gear. She grabbed his hand and laced their fingers together, letting him know that she was there for him just like he had been there for her.

“I can’t believe this!” Rose exclaimed.

“It’s statistically unlikely that Ladybug and Chat Noir would both be in our class,” Max said.

“At least it explains why our school is targeted so frequently,” Nathaniel pointed out.

“But Hawkmoth doesn’t know who they are,” Mylène said. “Does he?”

“N-no,” Marinette said, swallowing hard. Or at least, she hoped not. Was the akuma watching this? Or had it trapped them here and the gone off to wreak havoc? If it couldn’t see them, was it a coincidence that her class had ended up here watching this very episode? That seemed unlikely, but stranger things had happened to them…

“And none of you can tell him,” Adrien said, but he was looking right at Lila as he spoke.

“No one would do that,” Kim said.

Lila didn’t look like she agreed with that. Her eyes had a calculating glint to them that scared Marinette. She clutched Adrien tighter and wondered if maybe Master Fu had neglected to mention an akuma that was capable of erasing memories. If so, Marinette would be making use of it immediately.

“Hey Alya, are you okay?” Nino asked, looking at his girlfriend.

“Marinette is Ladybug. Adrien is Chat Noir,” Alya said dazedly.

“Yeah…” Nino said slowly.

“Marinette is Ladybug! Adrien is Chat Noir!” Alya waved her hands. 

“I think she’s broken,” Juleka observed.

“Good,” Adrien muttered, and Marinette knew exactly how he felt. Neither one of them were prepared to face Alya’s endless questions right now. Marinette was dreading what would happen when Alya snapped out of her shock. As it was, she could see the rest of their classmates sneaking less than subtle looks at her and Adrien. They were obviously dying to ask questions, but Adrien’s reaction had been strong enough to temporarily keep them quiet.

She looked up at him, reading the tension on his face, and made an executive decision. There was really no where for them to go to get any privacy – and that was unfortunate, because they desperately needed to talk when there were no eavesdropping ears nearby – but she pulled him over to a corner of the room and positioned them so that their backs were to everyone else. 

“What do we do?” she whispered.

“I have no idea,” Adrien said. “Is this an akuma, you think?”

“It has to be, but I think that it’s weird we haven’t seen it since we all woke up,” Marinette said. They kept their voices low.

“Maybe it’s waiting for something.” A familiar, small black head popped out of Adrien’s overshirt and smirked. “Hey Pigtails.”

Marinette sighed. “Hi Plagg.”

“Where’s Sugarcube?” Plagg asked.

“I’ve told you not to call me that,” Tikki hissed, poking her head out of Marinette’s purse. “Hi Adrien!”

Looking a little numb, Adrien mutely waved. Marinette knew exactly how he was feeling. It was one thing to see it on screen, but this was physical, irrevocable proof that she was Ladybug. Just like Plagg was proof that he was Chat Noir. She could feel hysteria creeping up on her, but resolutely pushed it back. Now wasn’t the time. She could freak out later, when she was safely enclosed in her bedroom with no one but Tikki as a witness.

“What could the akuma be waiting for?” Marinette whispered, getting them back on track.

They all looked at each other blankly.

Finally, Tikki said tentatively, “Maybe it was waiting for your identities to be revealed.”

“But that’s already happened,” Adrien said with a grimace. “And still nothing.”

“Well, think. What else happened with Volpina?” Tikki said.

Marinette screwed her face up in thought, thinking. Of course, she remembered that day vividly. It hadn’t been Adrien dangling from the Eiffel Tower – well, of course it hadn’t, she thought with a wry glance to the boy beside her - but that hadn’t stopped the terrifying moment from being engraved into her memory. Technically, it had been hers and Chat’s first introduction to the powers of a fourth miraculous user.

It had also been the day that cemented Lila’s hatred of Ladybug and Chat Noir. Plus, now that she knew who Chat Noir was, she realized it was also a day that the two of them had come perilously close to discovering each other’s identities. She had gone to Adrien’s house to try and protect him from Volpina. Chat must have had to perform some interesting acrobatics to avoid her.

She glanced back at the screen just in time to see the Ladybug in the cartoon arriving at Adrien’s house. Her stomach tightened as the scene progressed.

**[At that moment, Volpina is seen outside, leaping away with a captive Adrien.]**

**Ladybug: Chat Noir! She's taken Adrien!**

**Chat Noir: That's an illusion, too!**

**Ladybug: How are you so sure?!**

**Chat Noir: Uh...my..um...feline sixth sense. It's legendary! Oh...**

**[Ladybug goes over to the bathroom and finds it empty.]**

**Ladybug: Really? You don't say! Adrien's gone!**

**[Ladybug leaps out the window.]**

**Chat Noir: I'm not even gonna try to get out of this.**

“You really are a terrible liar,” Marinette said.

Adrien snorted. “How exactly was I supposed to convince you that it was an illusion?” he asked dryly.

“I don’t know! But a feline sixth sense? Really?” She turned to him and shook her head.

“Hey! I was trying to think in the moment,” Adrien defended himself. “You and Volpina had me totally mixed up. I had no idea what was going on.”

Marinette went to respond but couldn’t. Her heart pounded and she tightened her grip on Adrien’s hand.

**Volpina: Give me your Miraculous now or I will! [Volpina swings "Adrien" around]**

**Ladybug: I thought you loved him!**

**Volpina: Not as much as seeing you two defeated! [to "Adrien"] No hard feelings, right?**

**Cat Noir: You're bluffing. It's another illusion.**

**Volpina: You wanna bet on that? [releases one finger at a time on her grip on "Adrien"]**

**Ladybug: No! [reaches for her earrings]**

**Cat Noir: Don't do it, Ladybug! [throws his baton at Volpina and "Adrien"]**

**Ladybug: No!**

**[The illusion of Adrien vanishes, and Volpina along with it.]**

“Hey, I’m right here,” Adrien said in her ear, wrapping his arm around Marinette’s waist.

“She scared me so bad,” Marinette said thickly, turning away from the screen. She didn’t want to see anymore. She wanted to get out of this place.

“I know. I can’t believe you would’ve given up your miraculous for me.”

She met his gaze. “You mean everything to me. I’d do anything to protect you.”

Adrien’s expression softened. “Thank you, but please never give your miraculous up for me. It’s too important.” He squeezed her hand.

“Focus, people,” Plagg said crossly. “This isn’t helping!”

“Right. So… the only thing this has done is made us reveal our identities,” Marinette said. “Maybe… maybe we have to transform.”

“Right here?” Adrien didn’t look convinced, and she shrugged.

“I have nothing else. That’s my only idea.”

“It can’t hurt,” Tikki said.

“It could confirm to Hawkmoth who we are,” Adrien pointed out.

“Pretty sure Tikki and I would be proof enough,” Plagg said dryly.

“He’s not wrong,” Marinette said.

Adrien sighed. “Yeah, okay. I really don’t want to see what’s next.” He cast an uneasy glance at the screen. “As bad as it is that our identities are out, I can think of a lot more things that I don’t want anyone knowing.”

“So can I,” Marinette said, wincing. This already hadn’t cast her in the best light; she dreaded the thought of anyone seeing her freak out over Adrien, or some of the very private conversations that she’d had with Tikki, or even some of the more… inventive akumas she and Chat had faced. 

“Okay… then are you ready?” he asked.

Marinette took a deep breath. “Ready. Tikki, spots on!”

“Plagg, claws out!”

Normally, the light of her transformation didn’t bother Marinette; today, it was so bright that she had to shut her eyes or risk being blinded. Ladybug tightened her grip on her partner’s hand, her free hand shielding her face. When she dared to look again, she realized that the room had vanished. She, Chat Noir, and their classmates were standing in the courtyard of the school.

“Whoa, what the hell?” Nino said with amazement. “How did you do that?”

“Uh,” Chat said eloquently.

“We have no idea,” Ladybug said.

“But we’re back, right?” Alix said, looking around like she expected the ground to open up underneath her.

“Hell yeah we are.” Kim gave her a high five.

“Oh no! I’m late to meet Marc!” Nathaniel said suddenly.

“Whoa! No one can leave until we discuss this!” Ladybug exclaimed.

“There’s nothing to discuss,” Lila said. She smirked. “Wait until I tell everything that -!” She cut off suddenly, choking and grabbing at her throat. Everyone stared at her.

“Err, Lila?” Rose said cautiously.

Lila mouthed something at them, but no one could understand what she was saying.

“Wait,” Alya said. “She’s trying to say -!” She choked too.

“What?” Max said, looking as baffled as the rest.

Alya looked annoyed. She rubbed her throat and carefully said, “She’s trying to say who Ladybug and Chat Noir are, but she can’t. I just tried to say it and it was like I suddenly got a big lump in my throat.”

Cue the whole group trying to do the same thing and varying panicked expressions as the same thing happened to all of them… except for Ladybug.

She turned to Chat and softly said, “Adrien Agreste is Chat Noir.”

His eyebrows furrowed, but he replied, “Marinette Dupain-Cheng is Ladybug.”

“I can’t even type it!” Alya wailed, staring at her phone. “My thumbs freeze up!”

“Nathaniel, try your sketchbook,” Mylène urged.

Nathaniel took out his sketchbook and went to write, but his hands twitched uncontrollably, and the pen slid from his fingers. They all watched as it hit the ground in silence.

“Fix this!” Lila screeched, spinning around to glare at Ladybug.

“What – I can’t!” Ladybug said, putting her hands up. “Lila, there’s no akuma to fight. Chat and I will happily take care of any that appear, but…” She shrugged helplessly.

“You did this on purpose!” Lila yelled.

“Oh please,” Chloé said cuttingly. “Everyone knows what Ladybug and Chat Noir are capable of, and this isn’t one of those things. They can’t stop people from talking. If they could, I’m sure Ladybug would’ve shut you up permanently a long time ago.” She smirked.

Lila glowered at her. “I won’t let this stand. I will figure out some way to tell the world!” 

“Yeah, good luck with that. I bet not even Hawkmoth would be able to read the thoughts out of your head,” Chloé said, her smirk widening as Lila let out a frustrated growl and stormed away.

“Uh, thanks Chloé,” Chat said awkwardly.

Chloé sniffed. “Whatever. Come on, Sabrina. We’re late for our manicures.” She followed Lila out the gates with Sabrina on her heels.

“So are we like, gonna talk about this?” Nino asked.

“Yeah, like how you two kept a secret for years! You knew that I was trying to figure out who you were. All that time you just listened to me and said nothing!” Alya said. Her tone edged a bit too close to accusatory for Ladybug’s tastes, and suddenly Ladybug could feel herself snapping. It had been a long, confusing, terrifying, shocking day, and she wasn’t in the mood to be scolded by her best friend.

“We were protecting you,” Ladybug said, maybe a bit too sharply, but unable to stop herself. “If you hadn’t noticed, Hawkmoth will stop at nothing to get our miraculous. The more people who know, the more danger everyone in Paris is in! If he thought that you knew, he’d use you against us to make us give up our miraculous. He’d go after our families, our friends, the people we love… is that what you want?”

Alya’s eyes widened. “N-no.”

Chat laid a hand on Ladybug’s shoulder and spoke in a considerably gentler tone. “We didn’t do it to hurt anyone. Believe me, no one hated the secrecy more than Ladybug and I did. We wouldn’t have done it if it wasn’t necessary. Please think about that for a while, okay Alya?” His gaze took in all their leftover classmates, making it clear that he actually wasn’t just speaking to Alya. All of them bowed their heads or otherwise looked away, unwilling or unable to meet his eyes.

“I’m going to be late,” Nathaniel said again, much quieter and subdued now.

“I’ll walk with you,” Alix mumbled. She and Nathaniel left with Max and Kim on their heels. Mylène, Ivan, Juleka and Rose followed them. Alya looked like she wanted to say something, but Nino took her hand and pulled her away.

“Are you okay?” Chat asked when they were alone.

“No more okay than you are,” Ladybug said, finally letting go of his hand to wrap her arms around himself.

He smiled, strained. “Yeah, I’m kinda freaking out inside,” he admitted. “Do you think we should patrol just in case?”

“If it’s an akuma, we’ll find out sooner or later,” Ladybug said. She turned to go.

“Ladybug, wait.”

She stopped.

“I just – we’re gonna be okay, right?” Chat sounded young and very scared and, in the context of what she knew about Adrien and his mother, it hurt even more.

Ladybug looked back at him. “Of course we are. It’s always gonna be the two of us until the end,” she said, because she didn’t know much but she _did_ know that. “I just – I need a few minutes. I think you do too.”

His smile was much more natural this time. “Patrol tomorrow night?”

“You know it,” she said, throwing her yoyo out.

Tempting though it was to go home, Ladybug went instead to Master Fu’s. He took one look at her face and closed the shop, ushering her into a backroom. She detransformed and sank down at the table with shaky legs. Master Fu made them both tea and sat across from her, watching with a grave face as she told him what had happened that day. When she was done, silence fell for a few moments.

Then Master Fu sighed. “It’s far from ideal, but… you say none of them could speak or write what they found out?”

“No. It’s as if something was stopping them, but Chat and I didn’t have that problem,” Marinette replied.

Master Fu made a humming sound. “It seems that whatever force did this to you didn’t want your identities becoming widespread information.”

“Does that mean we’re safe from Hawkmoth if someone got akumatized?” Marinette said.

“That I can’t say for sure, but I would hope so,” Master Fu said. “However…”

“However?”

“I don’t believe this was Hawkmoth’s doing. It’s true that his akuma are capable of great feats of power, and it is possible that Hawkmoth discovered your identities and is sitting on the information, but about four hours ago I felt a strange sense of magic within the city. It was not familiar to me; certainly not from a miraculous, and it persisted for about three and a half hours before fading away,” he said.

“Right about the time we were transported back,” Marinette said.

“Exactly.”

“But what was it?” Marinette asked, leaning forward. Tikki and Waayz, who had been having their own conversation, both quieted and turned to look to.

Master Fu shook his head and sighed. “I’m not sure. There are many kinds of magic out there, Marinette. More than you could begin to imagine. It sounds like you and Chat Noir have inadvertently stumbled across one.”

Marinette frowned, frustrated. “But if we don’t know what it is, how do we fight it?”

“Perhaps it’s not here to be fought.” Master Fu sat back and picked up his cup of tea. “I’m sure the truth will come out eventually. But in the meantime, you two need to focus on adjusting to this as quickly as possible. It won’t do for Hawkmoth to find out that anything has changed.”

“Right, of course.” Marinette finished her tea, thinking. She had no idea how her classmates were going to react come Monday. It would either be really good or really bad. Funnily enough, that was worrying her way more than her patrol tomorrow with Chat. She’d meant what she said: they were still partners and always would be. She was very carefully not thinking about her crush on Adrien or Chat’s crush on Ladybug, because she wasn’t _nearly_ ready to handle that right now.

“You look tired. You should go home and rest just in case there is an akuma tonight,” he said.

“You’re right. Thank you, Master. Come on, Tikki.” She got up and said her good-byes, then left through the back door of the shop so that no one would see her go. Her head spun as she walked home; she had no idea where to begin absorbing everything that had happened, and she was troubled over the idea that whoever had done this might rear their head again in the future, and she couldn’t believe that Adrien was Chat, and now all their friends knew…

“Oh gosh, Tikki, how am I gonna cope with this?” Marinette said, grabbing her head.

“You’ll be okay,” Tikki said soothingly. “Just go home, have something to eat, and then lay down for a while. It’ll help clear your head. Everything will be fine.”

Would it? Marinette wanted to ask, but she wasn’t sure she’d like the answer. All she could do was obey and hope that Tikki was right.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on a tumblr.


End file.
